


At Length

by tonight_aliv



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-09
Updated: 2014-09-09
Packaged: 2018-02-16 17:03:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2277726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tonight_aliv/pseuds/tonight_aliv
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He had been told to wait here in the foyer. The resound of solid heels clacking against the tiled floor had died somewhere in the furthest reaches of the three-story ceiling long ago. He had no choice but to wait.</p>
            </blockquote>





	At Length

**Author's Note:**

> originally posted to tumblr on Mar 30th, 2013.  
> inspired by http://beadrops.web.fc2.com/index.html

He had been told to wait here in the foyer. The resound of solid heels clacking against the tiled floor had died somewhere in the furthest reaches of the three-story ceiling long ago. He had no choice but to wait, he kept repeating in his head as the minutes passed at length. This room was too stale, too clean, too orderly, too mechanical. The black and white tiles sparkled below him, reflecting bright sunlight that streamed in from sharp-edged white-trimmed windows set too far up on the wall to provide any comfort from the outside world.

An unused fireplace was camouflaged in the white wall to his left, flanked by smooth columns. To his right sat a small table of wrought iron and glass, seating for one and only one. Chosaku had disappeared up the staircase laid before him, a dark carpet meeting him once outside this uncomfortably tall room. He was more than tempted to follow.

But he stayed put, adjusting the ends of his red jacket, and when that failed to abate his restlessness, he took a few careful strides toward one of the windows closest to the fake fireplace. His every move echoed uncomfortably. It was starting to agitate him.

The closer he drew toward the curtainless window, the more of the lawn he could see: hedges trimmed at harsh angles, trees kept perfectly trimmed, the grass glowing pristine green. Not a single blade looked out of place, not a single glimpse of a color other than green or gray in sight. It left a bad taste in his mouth, and he resigned that maybe it was better that these windows had run so high up, trying to escape the perfect tile and the perfect hedges and the perfect estate.

He could sympathize.

"I wasn’t expecting to see you, of all people," shattered the silence with a harsh laugh, disregarding the foyer’s ominous feel as if it were nothing. Although to him, who lived here and grew up here and spent far too much of his life here, it probably all amounted to exactly that. Nothing.

Judai turned to face him head-on, trying not to let his relief at the other’s presence show through. This room wasn’t nearly as unbearable when someone else existed within it, even if that someone else was dressed to match the crisp black-and-white theme of the room.

"I need to ask you something, Manjoume," he said simply.

"Ask away," Jun replied lightly, long white boots tapping against the tile floor as he took a few long steps toward his guest. "It must be plenty important if it involves attempting to sneak onto the estate to ask."

The sarcasm was easy to catch, despite the truth dripping from his every word, but there was no life in Manjoume’s eyes. The blaze of pride and determination that usually made his gray irises shine was gone, replaced with a dull cynicism and scrutiny that Judai had never seen on his face before. He had to force himself to exhale slowly as Manjoume drew near, to remind himself of some semblance of warmth.

Judai fixed him with a glare, “I need to know what happened to Light and Darkness Dragon.”

In all honesty, he hadn’t anticipating asking so directly. He had planned this all to go much more smoothly, like they could before, when Judai could unload whatever was on his mind, and the two of them would figure out a solution together. It hadn’t been perfect, of course, since the rivals spoke more in insults than in camaraderie, but Judai didn’t trust anyone else to express the truth that he could not see. That had always been Manjoume. But this foyer, this mansion, this person standing before him with a forced smirk on his face wasn’t the rival he sought.

It pissed him off more than it honestly should have.

"I’ve never heard of it. Some kind of duel monster, I’m guessing?"

Everything was wrong. Even as he spoke, Manjoume’s fists had flexed at his sides. His eyes had narrowed for just a moment. His head was tilting upward, as if to look down at Judai. There was a small spark of life returning to his eyes, but Judai couldn’t find in himself to be relieved.

"Don’t lie to me," he whispered lowly.

"What reasons do I have to lie about such a thing?" Jun’s arms moved to cross in front of his chest loosely, wrinkling his bleached long overcoat.

Judai blinked at the question, his brown eyes falling into a glare after several moments’ hesitation. He had almost let the question go, but the wording lingered at the back of his mind. It was wrong. It wasn’t Manjoume, who had more than enough reasons to lie, who would not have isolated the blame on himself. The response was not the Manjoume he knew, who would not have a reason to lie to some good-for-nothing Drop-Out Boy.

"What, are you suspicious?" Jun’s unnatural smirk widened, his head dropping to level Judai with a harsh look of his own, "That’s not like you at all, to think for yourself and notice what’s happening arou—"

He was interrupted at the sudden hand holding firm to his waist. In one fluid movement, Jun had unfolded his arms and taken a slow step forward, well into the other’s personal space. Judai had stopped him at a little less than arm’s length, but Jun could now hear each breath that he took. They were growing a little uneven.

Smirk only growing wider at the gesture, Jun reached for Judai’s thin face with his opposite hand. This movement was slower than the last, graceful and purposeful, although at this point he was acting only on instinct. When exactly had his autonomy broken down? Had it been with the mention of Light and Darkness, or had he lost himself long before that? Had it ever existed within the confines of this mansion?

Judai had grabbed his wrist easily enough, but it wasn’t until pain shot up his arm that Jun realized it. His face faltered significantly as his gaze darted to their hands, his own twisted and quickly losing color.

He blinked, drifting to Judai’s face. The anger he had read so clearly in those brown eyes had morphed so completely into fear, a fear of him, that he almost let a gasp escape. The change was so drastic and so abrupt that it left Jun reeling, wondering what in the world he had done to provoke it.

Lost in his observations, he didn’t catch Judai’s voiceless words.

"Don’t mumble," he reprimanded, although there was no force behind his voice any longer.

Judai’s grip on his wrist loosened considerably, but he didn’t let go of the fabric that covered it, and he wasn’t entirely sure why, “I asked, ‘what the hell happened to you.’”

There was a long silence between them, measuring the other up in the still that surrounded them. The sun was setting now, casting longer rays of light into the foyer, some even daring to carry the hint of color with them. It was uneven and unsightly in the room of straight corners and tall structures, and that was okay.

"Come on, follow me," Jun said softly as he turned back toward the staircase in the center of the mansion, twisting his wrist out of Judai’s hold and taking that same hand in his grasp as he did, "I’ll tell you what you want to know."


End file.
